Our Team

NTPC Board of Directors is comprised of the following individuals appointed by the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT):

Chairman:

Sylvia Haener

Vice Chairman:

Martin Goldney

Directors:

Sandy Kalgutkar

Rita Mueller

Pamela Strand

Erin Kelly

Corporate Secretary (NTPC):

Trish McFaull

NTPC Senior Leadership Team

Noel Voykin, President and Chief Executive Officer

Noel joined the Northwest Territories Power Corporation on April 1, 2019. His passion for electrical and utility systems started while he was working as an Electrical Generating System Technologist in the Canadian Armed Forces. He attended the University of Saskatchewan and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.

He joined TransAlta Utilities where he learned the utility business through his exposure to domestic and international operations. After leaving TransAlta, Noel joined a consulting firm where he led the utility and electrical engineering practice, providing service to the mining industry. He returned to the utility industry as a Key Account Business Representative managing SaskPower’s business interactions with oil companies and negotiated contracts for large industrial loads.

In 2008, Noel joined Cameco Corporation’s major projects division, and led both the project services and infrastructure engineering groups. He continued at Cameco as the Director Mining, Metallurgy and Geo-Environmental Engineering. Following an internal reorganization, he took on innovation, research, development & commercialization and technical oversight for worldwide operations.

Belinda Whitford, Chief Operating Officer

Belinda has almost 20 years of utility finance experience and was NTPC's controller for over 4 years before assuming the role of Chief Financial Officer in April 2016. Teamwork is a focus for this Chartered Professional Accountant in leading all financial aspects of the Corporation including financial reporting, budgeting and regulatory affairs, treasury and risk management, internal audit and continuous improvement, logistics, and communications. Belinda assumed the role of COO in October 2020.

Cory Strang, Chief Financial Officer

Cory was born and raised in Hay River and has 20 years of service with the NTPC. He has a financial background and has worked in a variety of positions within the finance division, including the positions of Manager, Treasury & Risk and Manager, Budgeting & Regulatory Affairs. Cory received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2006.

Paul Grant, Chief Services Officer

Paul is a Chartered Professional Accountant with a degree in economics. He has over 22 years of experience with NTPC working in finance, generation and distribution areas. Appointed as Director, Customer Service in 2016, his area of responsibilities included billing, metering and customer service. He continued to develop the customer experience by utilizing technology to make interaction with customers more timely and efficient. He was appointed Director, Corporate Planning in August 2018. In this role, he continues to oversee Customer Service, with additional responsibilities for Continuous Improvement, the Strategic Planning Process, and Communications. In November 2019, Paul assumed leadership of a new Corporate Services division, which includes his previous areas of responsibility along with Information Technology and Supply Chain Management.

Kumar Balachandran, Chief Projects and Engineering Officer

Kumar Balachandran joined NTPC in September 2019. He is a Professional Engineer with over 30 years of global experience in Projects and Operation Management. His international project experience spans mining, oil & gas and heavy industrial sectors, in Asia, Africa, Australia and Canada.

Prior to joining NTPC, Kumar worked for Cameco Corporation in Saskatoon as Manager, Project Planning & Services. In this role he was responsible for planning and estimating the Corporation’s Major Projects portfolio. This portfolio exceed $1B annually for several consecutive years. Kumar also worked for Iron Ore Company of Canada (Rio Tinto group) in Labrador as a Senior Technical Advisor in its Major Projects Division. Previously he served s the Operations Manager of steel and aluminum plants and projects in East Africa. He has also worked for a major Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management conglomerate in Asia, working on projects in the oil & gas, mining and industrial sectors.

Mike Ocko, Director, Thermal Operations

Mike has 30 years of experience in the utility industry and thermal power generation. He joined the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) in 1989 working in thermal operations and maintenance as a result of his background as an Industrial & Control Electrician. He was appointed as the Director of NTPC’s Thermal Division in 2010 and has promoted alternate energy solutions within his division as well as across the company. Mike has served as Chair of the Canadian Off-Grid Utility Association for the past 10 years. His number one priority is to ensure that his employees work safely and are able to go home to family and friends at the end of every work day.

Alex Love, Director, Hydro Operations

Eddie Smith, Director, Health, Safety and Environment

Eddie was born and raised in Hay River and has a diploma in Renewable Resources Technology from Aurora College in Fort Smith and a B.Sc. degree from the University of Lethbridge in Environmental Science. He spent several years coaching the NWT Track and Field Team at national events and is involved in local sports and community events. Eddie joined NTPC as an Environmental Analyst in 2003, and was named Manager, Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) in 2008. Now Director, he is dedicated to improving the HSE programs and building a culture of health and safety at NTPC.